Faceless
by idris02
Summary: Set only a few days after the season finale, another mission, another case. Damion Shaw is not an important man, not someone who would grab the attention of CyberCom but his disappearance has spiked the interest of the new Director of National Intelligence. Can the Clockwork Project Team make this case another success, or will they lose someone this time, and never get them back?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my first Intelligence Fanfiction, and my first attempt at a crime fanfic. I do not own any of the characters or anything.**

**XX**

Riley flicked off the light in her bathroom, leaving her wet towel hanging over the drying rack as she slipped her feet into her black leather boots. Her morning dishes already washed, dried and put away, Riley tucked her gun into her holster, her phone into her back pocket and picked the coffee up off the bench before leaving her apartment.

Water dripping down her back, Riley knocked for the second time of Gabriel's door, her knuckles just below the '143' gold lettering marking his apartment. Pressing her ear against the door, she couldn't hear a sound from within. Yanking her keys out of her pocket, she unlocked the door, unsure of what she would find in the apartment submerged in silence.

Quietly shutting the door behind her, Riley placed the coffee and keys on the floor before straightening up as her eyes scanned the room, assessing, and analysing. Grabbing her gun out of her holster, Riley held it up in front of her as she moved through his apartment, her eyes now sweeping the living room, before she noticed shards of glass on the kitchen floor, a few splotches of blood covering them.

"Gabriel?" Riley asked, her eyes scanning for any signs of life as she swiftly made her way to his bedroom. Pushing the door open with her foot, she sighed at the sight that lay before her. Asleep on his bed, still fully clothed as he lay over the covers, was Gabriel.

Curtains drawn, the room was sheltered from all the morning sun except one crack of it, which still fought its way through the curtains, and shined, unwanted, down on Gabriel who was spread out over his bed. His shoes still on, his gun still tucked into the back of his jeans, his sun glasses dropped onto the floor beside his bed, and his eyes clamped shut, Gabriel remained asleep, oblivious to the chorus of sirens that blared outside of his closed window down on the street below.

Gabriel's hand was covered in a makeshift bandage, leading Riley to assume it was his blood on the floor, not an intruder's. Holstering her gun, she smiled at his peaceful face for a second before she kicked his bedroom door shut loudly behind her, causing him to stir.

"Come on, princess rise and shine." Riley grinned as she nudged his foot as she walked past him and towards his window. She had been up for two hours already, she had gone for a run and had a quick sparring match, which resulted in her partner needing his shoulder popped back into place, she was full of energy.

"Shh." Gabriel muttered as he pushed his face deeper into his pillows, not wanting to wake up. His body ached all over, his stitches were still healing, and his bruise had stretched over his ribs now, rendering his stomach the worst place to be lying on, but he was lying on it all the same, he was accustomed to pain, this was no different. Gabriel groaned as Riley pulled open the curtains, letting the light shine into the room, as Gabriel kept his eyes closed, trying to block out the sun for another few seconds.

"What did it ever do to you?" Riley inquired as she picked the largest piece of what was left of his alarm clock, beside the window the wall had a small black mark and a dent, obviously the last place that the alarm clock was whole.

"I couldn't find the snooze button." Gabriel groaned. Lifting his face off his pillow, he opened his eyes just a fraction as he looked over at Riley whose eyes were scanning the floor, an amused expression on her face. She was looked at the shards of his alarm clock scattered around her feet. For a second she was worried but she didn't show it, Gabriel wasn't a morning person but this was still unusual behaviour, and after what happened last night, she was far more concerned by this than she would have been if it wasn't for the incident.

"And you couldn't just shut it off with you chip?" Riley grinned, covering her anxious expression carefully as she placed the bit of alarm clock she held on the window ledge. Stepping over the shards of left over alarm she lowered herself onto the end of Gabriel's bed as she pushed his feet out of the way.

"What time is it?" Gabriel asked, his face pushed back into the pillow as he felt the dip in the bed. He didn't need cctv footage of the supermarket to know what conditioner Riley was wearing, he could smell it from where he lay. Slightly unwillingly clearing his head of all thoughts of Riley in the shower, Gabriel buried his head deeper into his pillow as he focused on the pain in his stomach, attempting to force it to cloud his other thoughts that were not fading fast enough.

"6.30." Riley replied, her eyes sweeping the room, checking to see if anything was noticeably out of place, it wasn't like Gabriel to leave a broken glass on the kitchen floor or throw an alarm clock at the wall to stop it from beeping.

Pulling out his gun from the back of his jeans before rolling onto his back, Gabriel kicked Riley lightly with his foot as he stared up at the ceiling, trying to let his eyes get used to the brightness of the room as he placed his gun beside him. Staring up above him his eyes scanned the images popping up in front of him as he searched for something, while Riley's eyes stopped scanning the room and she shuffled backwards, unconsciously moving closer to Gabriel as she made herself more comfortable as her anxiousness subsided.

"Pass me my double shot espresso and I'll get up." Gabriel had found just what he had been searching for.

"I paid in cash for that!" Riley responded, turning to look at him as he smiled mischievously, his eyes focused, but not on anything that Riley could see.

"But your smiling face is still on the cctv." Gabriel grinned, as he continued to watch the video. "Oh he's definitely the one." Gabriel added as the barrister wrote his number on Riley's cup, he had obviously missed Riley's disinterested expression when he had flirted with her as she ordered.

"He spelt my name with an 'ie'." Riley groaned which made Gabriel's smile widen, as he used facial recognition to learn a little about Jason Tiller, using this conversation to postpone Gabriel having to get up out of bed, and distract Riley from worrying about his unwillingness to get up, who no doubt thought his tiredness was associated with the chip somehow.

"And he still lives at home, and was arrested last month for indecent exposure. But he did give you his cellphone number which is nice, he obviously doesn't want his Mum picking up." Gabriel laughed. Riley couldn't help but laugh in response as she moved slightly closer to Gabriel, she watched his expression as he read more on Jason, no longer watching the cctv video which continued to run.

"How thoughtful, he sounds like a catch." Riley smiled, not letting on that she was still thinking about the smashed alarm clock and the broken glass in the kitchen. "The double shot mightn't even be yours." Riley added with a grin.

"You better not have gotten the soy latte for me, you know I hate those damn things." Gabriel replied as he sat up and cleared Jason Tiller's files from his view as he focused on the cttv video of Riley in the coffee shop, her mind still in secret service mode, as she discretely scanned the room. His eyes moving from her back to the counter he smiled before adding, "You're just saying that because he put his name of three other cups while you were still in the shop."

"It could be for someone el.." Riley started off, knowing full well that Gabriel would know almost instantly if she ever actually went on a date again, let alone bought them coffee in the morning, she was not only too busy but she didn't need anyone else in her life, she was content with Gabriel. As an afterthought she quickly added Chris, the Cassidy's and even Lillian to that list.

"You spent you entire Saturday night at the shooting range with me and Jameson, your Friday night sparring down at the gym and your Thursday night with the Cassidy's as they checked my chip again, doesn't leave a lot of dating time." Gabriel retorted. Sighing in response Riley bit back a retort as she hit Gabriel's leg before she stood up and left the room.

Resisting the urge to roll back over and pull his pillow over his head, Gabriel swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, cracked his neck and then closed his eyes. Riley's phone rang once before it fell silent, before he could even think about whether or not he should scan the number he already had, and he recognised the number immediately, it was Lillian.

"Drink you coffee and have a shower, we leave in five minutes." Riley announced as she entered the room. Pushing the coffee into Gabriel's open palm, she turned and walked out of the room. Leaving the door open behind her, Riley dropped onto Gabriel's couch, leaning back she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the traffic outside, and the shower water running while she waited, wondering what case they would be assigned to today.

**XX**

**AN: I would love to know what you think, and I hope that you like the start, the next chapter should be up soon, so please review.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Taken

**XX**

**Washington DC.**

Extinguishing his cigarette beneath the heel of his shoe, he checked his watch again. In front of him the building remained silent, the alleyway abandoned, and the high rise buildings surrounded him were empty of voices, people and light. It was the same every Tuesday night, the sky would darken above him, the city lights didn't often shine too bright out here, he was safe from prying eyes as he waited, watching. Leaning against the black hood of the car, he waited, waiting for his boss to finish his meeting, waiting for his boss to select a new location.

His silence was interrupted, to his far left a bin was knocked over, the lid falling before the rest of it, clattering as it hit the ground only second before the bin hit the concrete, with the sound reverberating throughout the empty area. Turning his head to look into the darkness, his brown eyes narrowed as he tried to ascertain whether it was a stray cat or dog, or whether a figure was in the shadows, waiting to strike.

This wasn't his first rodeo, right off the bat he knew something was wrong, but he had no way knowing what is was. His gaze shifted from eye level to up at the sky, dark grey skies were gathering above him, slightly off setting the black night draped above him, rain wouldn't be far off.

Straightening his tie, he kept a steady eye on the door as he senses heightened, and his eyes scanned his surroundings, checking to see anything else out of place. Still no sign of the cat, he took a step away from the car, his hand slowly moving to his holster, he needed to investigate the sound. It was probably nothing much like the dozen times before, but he needed to check. Taking another step forward his eyes continued to scan, nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing was hiding in the shadows, nothing he could make out yet.

He smelt her perfume before he heard her gun click as she turned off the safety. Sweat formed on his brow as he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye, he sighed, of course it was her, why wouldn't it be. Twisting his neck around just an inch, he saw her, standing behind him, her gun raised as she wore a tight lipped smile on her face. Hair pulled up into a tight ponytail, her hands gloved in black leather, and her shoes silently allowing her to sneak up on him, it wasn't a surprise he was caught off guard, she hadn't made a sound, nor did she want to. He knew what this look meant, silence or death.

Protection was his job, he did it well, he had done it for the last 30 years, he had protected his boss for the last 15, so well that nobody had ever considered he would need protection, not even himself. His black suit jacket shifted as he turned to properly face her, his eyes scanning the surrounding buildings, as he foot crunched against the gravel, the absence of red lights triggering his awareness.

The cameras that traced and followed, that swivelled and stared, hadn't moved in the last two minutes at least. Almost every Tuesday evening for the last 6 years, his eyes had tracked the movements of those cameras as he waited, feeling secure that he was being watched, while remaining weary that anyone could be watching. The cameras weren't destroyed, simply paused or shut down, which meant nobody would know it was her, nobody would know anything.

By the time the cameras were back online he would either be dead or gone, quite possibly both.

Slowly he took a step towards her, his worn black shoe crunching against the gravel as he moved lowered his foot, his body steady, his hands barely shaking. In front of him, she nodded and lowered her gun as she moved her head slightly to the side, something was distracting her, her focus was no longer on him. He didn't need long, simply a second, a second would be enough.

Not wanting to waste a second contemplating his movement, his hand silently reached for his gun. He managed to graze it with the tips of his fingers before he saw a flash of moment in front of him, a glimmer of silver, and then he felt pain spreading up his left leg as he clenched his fist before falling to the ground.

Her brown hair was facing him now as he glared up at her, her face hidden as she looked away. Clutching his leg with one hand as blood trickled down his pant leg, he used his free hand to slide his finger blindly over what he hoped was the right switch. Out of the corner of his half-closed eye he could just make out the window of his car behind him, opened just a crack. Blood blossomed beneath him as he flicked the switch on another button before stuffing the remote back into his back pocket, and returning both of his hands to where the bullet was embedded into his muscle.

"Dammit Damion." The woman snapped. Surveying the area one last time she turned back to Damion, her eyes fierce as she took another step towards him.

"Couldn't you just do it the easy way, just this once." The woman's expression softened as she took two steps towards him and yanked him up of the ground, before she steadied him, his hand still clutching as he leg as he bit down on the inside of his cheek.

"Couldn't you?" Damion growled. Above them, the sky had opened and the rain was falling quick and fast, washing the blood away, getting rid of any evidence. With her silencer pushed against his side as she supported him, she hauled him with her, as the cameras began to flicker with life, in less than two minutes they would be on again, and she couldn't be here when they were. Pushing her silencer into his back and they passed the car, she half dragged him after her, she certainly couldn't afford any more wise moves on Damion's behalf either.

**XX**

**AN: I would love to know what you think, so please review!**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Briefing

**XX**

**US Cyber Command – Angel's Bluff, VA**

The building looked the same on the outside and on the inside as it did two weeks ago, except inside, everywhere, the atmosphere was different. To Gabriel it looked like the same place, it just felt different. There was no visible sign of blood or damage, but the damage remained inside everyone, far more noticeable than ever. Jeffrey Tetazoo, a complete pain in everyone's ass, was dead. Someone who was thought to be almost indestructible, had been killed. Adam Weatherly, a man that everyone had trusted, had known, was not the man they thought he was, and so now that he was dead, they didn't grieve his death, they grieved his betrayal.

The building almost felt... free. Everything that had happened was over, the dead were buried, the whispers had stopped, and everyone who was alive was repairing themselves. No longer worrying about Gabriel's stitches, but back to worrying about the chip, and today he would get a case, where he could go back to getting pushed out of the way by Riley, in the pain in the ass way she often did.

"Late night there Jameson?" Gabriel smirked as he dropped into the black leather chair behind Lillian's desk. A few steps away from the table, staring up at the control board, listening to his ear piece, Chris pried his lips from his coffee cup, opened his piercing dark brown eyes, wrapped his fingers around the phone in his pocket and threw it over to Gabriel.

"Lillian's still in DC." Chris replied, a yawn forming on his lips. They were in their 29th hour of deciding who the next Director of National Intelligence and Director of Central Intelligence would be, and Lillian had been locked in that room along with 43 others, for the past three days now, which left Chris is charge. The first 24 hours, it had been an amazing opportunity that he was thankful for, but now he no longer missed his bed, he simply missed sleep, sunlight and a pillow to rest his head on.

"But she called Riley." Gabriel started, it was Lillian's number which lead him to assume it was Lillian. Before Chris could answer him, the chip was working as fast as it usually did. He could hear Chris' voice on the line, he could see Lillian walking into the room that she entered only 7 hours ago now, a room where even his chip couldn't enter.

"No, you did." Gabriel answered for himself. As he sat slumped in the chair behind Lillian's desk watching Chris, the phone pressed against his ear as he sipped his second, no it was Chris' third, Gabriel corrected himself again, coffee of the day.

Chris nodded before turning back to the board. There was still no sign of Mei Chen, and no sign of whoever had killed Weatherly. New cases were popping up all over the screen, which Chris had immediately assigned to either the CIA or the FBI, but this one was different. Gabriel glanced down at the phone that he held in his hands, in front of his eyes, he scanned through the contents of the phone before placing it on the desk and staring at the images in front of him, telling him everything that Chris knew on Weatherly and Mei Chen.

As the caffeine slowly spread through Chris' body and brain, he listened to the voice on the other end of the line, he instructed those who knocked on Lillian's office door, he sent out emails, he reviewed threats and he waited for his coffee to kick in and his eyelids to stop drooping. Behind, not bothering to get up as he cyber rendered Weatherly's cell, the cell where he had hung him so, or so it looked at least, Gabriel knew without a shadow of a doubt, just as he knew yesterday and had decided the day before, that Mei Chen was behind this. The only thing that Gabriel couldn't work out was why, she had no reason to kill her himself, but then again, 'If you're good at something never do it for free', he was sure that somebody must have paid her, but for now, he couldn't work out who.

"The Cassidy's need to see you." Riley announced as she walked through the door, shutting it behind her. She handed Chris a fresh cup of coffee as she walked past him, before leaning against the desk in front of Gabriel. Looking out of the window into the corridor, Riley smiled at Matthews, who nodded in response, his arm still in a sling, but the pain of this morning mostly gone, it wasn't his first dislocated shoulder and it wasn't the last, but it was the last time that he underestimated Riley Neal.

"You told them?" Gabriel groaned. Pulling out of his cyber render his mind returned to the room as Riley turned around to look at him, her face covered with a grin as her eyes lit up, she couldn't wait to tell Chris why.

"Is your chip messing up again?" Chris was standing beside Riley now, concern stretching across his face, before disappearing behind a mask of exhaustion. Taking a mouthful of coffee before he could yawn again he looked from Riley to Gabriel, Riley waiting for Gabriel to confess as she smirked beside him, glad that she'd made that decision last night, but still worried at what Gabriel had done.

"They were worrying about the chip messing with his emotions." Riley explained, urging Gabriel to tell Chris, she couldn't wait. It was one thing giving Matthews a beating this morning, but this was nothing compared to watching Gabriel suffer this way, she knew he wouldn't want to tell Chris, but she knew he would, especially as she glowed beside him.

As the two of them fell silent, Riley's eyes meeting Gabriel's as he glared at her slightly, and Chris looked from Riley to Gabriel, attempting to ascertain what Riley meant and why Gabriel was so reluctant to share. Whatever it was, Chris could tell it wasn't too serious, although underneath the smirk, he could tell that Riley was clearly a little worried. Riley was worried not because of what happened but because she couldn't help but think that this was the beginning, of what though, she couldn't be sure.

"Toy Story 3 was on cable last night..." Riley started, the smile on her lips growing. Chris nodded as he took another sip of his coffee and watched the look of Gabriel's face transform.

"Which you made me watch!" Gabriel interrupted accusingly. He didn't watch movies anymore, with the chip in his head there was no need, and when he would consider watching a movie it wouldn't be a Disney movie, but Riley made him watch it, and she made him promise not to look ahead, not to chip anything, he had to drink his beer and watch without spoiling anything.

"I didn't think it'd make you cry." Riley declared. There was nothing wrong with Gabriel crying, but in a Disney film it was a bit disconcerting, especially since he hadn't cried the entire time Riley had known him, not even when Amelia blew up. Which meant it must have been the chip, and if it was differing his emotions, it probably wouldn't stop with the crying.

"I didn't cry! I shed one tear, at a very.." Gabriel started defensively, his dry eyes fixed on Riley as she struggled not to laugh at his pitiful defence.

"The bit where they stop fighting, hold hands and head towards the furnace defeated?" Chris asked, interrupting Gabriel, an odd look on his face. Riley looked from Gabriel to Chris, who were both staring at each other as Chris talked, and this time she couldn't resist, there was no way she couldn't laugh. Only a few weeks ago Chris had been shot in the arm, and had still managed to shot Marcela's brother, and yet he had cried in a children's movie.

"What, it's an emotional scene!" Chris insisted as Riley looked at him, her eyebrow raised as Gabriel grinned, he wasn't alone. Which meant it wasn't the chip as Riley was clearly worried about, and her worrying which made him worry.

"Seriously?" Riley managed to choke out between breaths. As people walked past, they looked from each face in the room, Riley who was grinning as she laughed and Chris and Gabriel who were had their backs to the windows, neither ashamed as they smiled to themselves.

"I watched it with my niece, you'd be heartless not to cry." Chris replied, feeling as if he needed to defend himself, even just a little.

"I didn't cry!" Riley laughed, looking at the both of them. Gabriel was now completely unfazed by it, and Chris was nodding along, his mind like Gabriel's somewhere else. Chris opened his mouth to add something more, before Gabriel laughed.

"You saw that alone." Gabriel smirked, as his chip showed him exactly what he wanted to see, Chris entering the movie theatre, alone, watching the movie, alone. He didn't watch it with his niece, it was just him and the popcorn.

"Damion Shaw went missing two nights ago." Chris begun, trying to change the subject as he ignored Gabriel's comment, and the laughter that ensued between Riley and Gabriel. He could shoot with exact precision, and could potentially beat both Riley and Gabriel in a sparring match but that didn't mean that he didn't cry in children's movies nor did it mean that he didn't see them alone.

"Who is he?" Riley asked, accepting the change in conversation, they were called here for a reason and they could tease Chris afterwards, right now they had a case to be briefed on, and since Lillian was gone, Chris was in charge, and he had their trust.

"49 year old father of two, divorced.. twice. Drunk and disorderly.." Gabriel started as information flashed through his mind, so far he couldn't see why they would be involved, he wasn't in a high position job, he wasn't in witness protection, he wasn't undercover, he wasn't into drugs, there was no clear reason that Gabriel had found of why they were searching for him.

"Gabriel.." Riley warned, she wanted him to be on topic, she didn't need or want to know his arrest record, she wanted to know the essentials.

"He is the driver of Tate Oliver for the last 15 years.." Gabriel declared triumphantly, of course. He worked for someone high profile, and was no doubt privy to a huge amount of Oliver's secrets, itinerary, personal information, codes and probably a great deal many other things as well after 15 years.

"Tate Oliver, why does that name sound familiar?" Riley asked, scanning her brain for anything to do with that name, any connections, any news reports, any files that she had read, but nothing immediately came to mind.

"Because Tate Oliver is the CEO of Nelodom Corporation." Chris answered. He opened his mouth to say something else but a knock on the door cut him short. A man in a dark blue suit opened the door and Chris stepped out into the hallway to speak with him, leaving Gabriel staring in front of him, and Riley to pick the phone up off the desk to look at it.

Tate Oliver was a pioneer in some fields, and an obnoxious elitist with no morals in others. The only thing about him that was undisputed was that he was one of the most powerful and wealthiest men in America. Tate Oliver saw knowledge as power, but he also saw power as power. He had both kinds, and he was able to use the laws as laxly as he desired.

"I'm into the cctv of the surrounding buildings now, it cuts out as soon as he drives up. I have enough to cyber render." Gabriel informed Riley as Chris shut the door behind him and turned to Gabriel. Riley didn't look up from the phone that Chris had thrown to Gabriel and she was now scanning the main file on Mei Chen as she leant against the desk, and Chris stood by the door, his eyes on Gabriel.

Chris and Riley disappeared in front of Gabriel as the office transformed around him. He couldn't see into the tinted windows of the black audi s8 sudan as the scene pixelated in front of him. He had a dozen cameras that cut out simultaneously, but he used the last second of footage to cyber render the scene. Looking up Gabriel saw the dark clouded sky above him, and in the distance he saw the street lights of the surrounding streets, and the glow of the light from distant buildings, but the buildings that surrounded him gave off no light. With the chip working around him, he saw that the building to his left was in fact empty and run down, but the other buildings surrounding him were lit, on at least 5 floors, the lights simply weren't seen on the street or the alleyway in which he was now standing.

Tate Oliver was in the building to his right, along with at least five others, the earlier footage flashed before Gabriel's eyes, as he recognised the faces of five others, all prominent leaders, all wealthy, all well known. Delving into Tate's records he saw that he owned this building, that he was building something inside, that the five of them meet here every Tuesday, and that it wasn't about the building, this was just where the kidnapper had decided to take Damion, it wasn't about the building at all.

Peering into Damion's window he could just make out the outline of his face, but Gabriel was certain that he was alone. Turning away from the car, Gabriel scanned his surroundings, attempting to find something out of the ordinary, to find someone standing in the shadows. Of course this wasn't likely, whoever had taken Damion had had the skill and the wit to turn off every camera that pointed down at Damion, it was unlikely that they had blatantly stood in the corner of the last camera shot.

"Anything?" Chris's voice echoed through the alleyway that Gabriel found himself standing in, he sounded far off but Gabriel knew that Chris was standing a few steps away from him.

"Nothing, no unusual shadows, no reflections, or lights." Gabriel answered, his eyes scanning everything now, there had to be something, however small, there had to be something useable, whoever this person was they had done a thorough job, if it wasn't for the kidnapping, he might even consider Mei.

Changing his cyber render from the second before the cameras cut out to the minutes after they were back online his eyes scanned the scene. The corners were the same, the dumpsters untouched, except for one that had fallen over, most likely by accident not by the kidnapper, they wouldn't have left that way Gabriel was sure of it, there were cameras a few metres from that smaller alleyway that hadn't cut out, which would have caught Damion and whoever took him. The car door was open now, but nothing else had been disturbed.

The rain was pelting down on the concrete around him, and out of the corner of his eye Gabriel noticed a shell casing, the last remnants of blood being washed away by the rain and the disarray that was the back seat of the car. Not sure what to focus on first, Gabriel examined the bullet, the bullet was a common make, from a common gun, there was no way to track it to its original owner. The blood would most likely be Damion's so that couldn't help him. Turning back to the car, Gabriel's chip did its job, searching for any footage of the car before it arrived here. In a few seconds he had pieced enough together to know that files had been taken, the vault beneath the seat had been emptied and he also found out something else about the car.

"The car has a recording device." Gabriel said, pulling out of his cyber render and looking thoughtfully at Chris whose eyes were still on him.

"Put it on the screen." Chris said simply. Gabriel nodded and routed the recording through the tv, and waited for someone to speak first.

"Dammit Damion." A woman snapped. Her voice sounding harsh and slightly accented, she wasn't from Washington, or anywhere else in America for that matter, she had a faint hint of Irish in her tone, but that was only noticeable to Gabriel through his chip.

"Run it through voice recognition." Chris instructed, wanting an ID on her as soon as possible.

"Already on to it." Gabriel answered, as the chip went to work, scanning the system, trying to find any useable voice, hopefully coinciding with a video of her face, or at least an image.

"Couldn't you just do it the easy way, just this once." The woman continued after a slight pause. Riley looked over to Gabriel who shook his head, he still couldn't find anyone.

"Couldn't you." A different voice growled. With that, the recording was over. There was nothing else in the recording worth listening to, no mutterings as whoever searched the car searched it, she was absolutely silent from that point on, there was nothing in the silence that even Gabriel could use.

"The second one is Damion Shaw, but the first, I can find it, but I don't know who it belongs to." Gabriel informed them both. He could find the woman's voice, and a few others like it, but there was nothing that connected to a name, and nothing that connected to a face either. Calls were made from all over the world with that voice, and there was nothing useful that Gabriel could find, not yet at least, perhaps it was harder to find, he would find something, he had to.

"Whoever took Damion didn't just take him, the car isn't ransacked but it's missing files, and Damion's keys are with him, there is..." Chris said, looking over to Riley who nodded in response, she understood why they had this case now, it wasn't because of Damion Shaw, not really, it was because of who he knew or more importantly what he knew, and how much he knew.

Whatever the woman took from Tate's car, whatever she took from possibly his home or elsewhere that was what needed to be found, a person was easier to track than a file. Damion Shaw was the driver of Tate Oliver for 15 years, he wouldn't only know information but he would know people and crucially people would know him. That was easy for Riley to figure out, what she couldn't find out is how they received the case, unless Tate Oliver brought it to their attention himself. He was influential in the world, but was he really that influential in the Government to get Cyber Command on his case?

"This isn't the first." Gabriel announced, his eyes scanning files as they popped up in front of his eyes, Damion Shaw wasn't the first driver to be taken and judging by the patterns, he wouldn't be the last either.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"12 drivers of CEO's or company figureheads have gone missing in the last 7 months, each of the camera's cut out for exactly 7 minutes in the surrounding areas." Gabriel answered him, his chip moving fast as he absorbed everything flashing before his eyes. If it wasn't for the importance of the stolen file, then this wouldn't be brought to their attention, it wouldn't be brought to anyone's attention. Based on the files, nobody had even linked two of them together, at least not electronically.

"Check the cameras of in a 5 mile radius, any common vehicles?" Chris instructed, as he fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard of the tablet in his hand. He knew that Gabriel would move faster and be far more effective but that didn't mean he couldn't help, or at least dig up some files of his own. Gabriel nodded, his mind already occupied.

"There are three common cars in the last two kidnappings, excluding Damion's." Gabriel told the two of them, Chris was still getting into the database and Riley was no longer absorbed by the miniscule amount of information they had on Mei Chen.

"First belongs to Nolan Hemner... who is currently in Paris with his mother. Not him." Gabriel started, quickly cancelling out Nolan Hemner's car out of the mix since Nolan managed to crash it eight days ago and it was still in the garage, nobody would have stolen it and used it for this crime, whoever this woman was she was much tidier than that.

"Second belongs to.. doesn't matter it was stolen 7 weeks ago." Gabriel continued, his chip projecting cctv cameras and files in front of his eyes, as endless amounts of information flicked in front of him.

"That's the one. Can you make out the driver?" Chris nodded, as he scanned the information on his tablet, he knew what car Gabriel was talking about, and with Riley leaning over his shoulder to get a good view, she did too. That was almost definitely it.

"I can't get her face, but there is a receipt that I can make ou..." Gabriel started, before stopping himself short. Riley looked up over at him as his eyes stared straight out in front of him, as documents, images and videos flashed before his eyes. He may not have found the woman they were after but he had found the next best thing.

"I found Arthur Douglas." Gabriel announced.

**XX**

**AN: They mentioned Gabriel crying due to the chip, making him more emotional, and when I overheard a conversation about Toy Story 3 the other day I thought this would be the perfect fit. Hope you loved this chapter, or at least liked it a little :) Please review and let me know what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Calm

**XX**

"Alive?" Riley asked, as she looked up from the screen that Chris was holding and over at Gabriel, who had found the last victim. The last victim of this woman was exactly what they needed, this woman who they knew nothing about, whether she was working alone, or with others, whether she had a traceable motive, or none at all. They didn't know what she looked like or where she lived, but if Gabriel had found her last victim, then they could have some of their questions answered. She may not know that they were looking for her, but at this stage it didn't really matter.

"He's in Vancouver." Gabriel answered. Arthur Douglas was alive. He was hiding out, where no one could find him, or at least no normal person, but with the chip he wasn't hard to find. Arthur had done well, using cash and not leaving a trail for anyone to follow but he had slipped up once, and through that Gabriel had tracked him right back to his cold little apartment where he spent most of his time.

"So we're going to Vancouver?" Riley asked looking over at Chris who nodded. Gabriel's eyes unfocussed, as he looked over at the wall, booking Riley and him on the next flight to Vancouver, it was leaving in just over an hour, if they moved fast they could make it. "Keep us... me updated." Riley said correcting herself as Gabriel threw her a look, Chris nodded again as Gabriel walked out of the room, Riley two steps behind him. It wouldn't be long now, not long before they had chosen a new Director of National Intelligence, and a new Director of Central Intelligence, there was only one thing that Riley knew for sure, Lillian wouldn't be the new Director of either, not for lack of ability, but for lack of desire. She knew there were at least 7 strong candidates for each position, but she could see no clear winner, and she was eagerly anticipating their choice.

Walking in silence to the lift, Riley couldn't help but make note of her surrounding, they were in a secure building she knew that, but they had been breached before and it was habit. She couldn't stop herself, and after everything she was glad that she was always aware, checking the corners of each room, evaluating threats, looking for escape routes if required. She knew Gabriel, and she knew that as he stood still in the lift, as they travelled down to the bottom floor that he was glad to have a lead, glad to have a distraction, glad that they were no longer fussing over his stitches, that they were treating him as usual. Well as usual as they could for Gabriel. After all that had happened in the last week and a half, Riley was glad for a distraction, a normal mission that would take her mind off everything else. After Weatherly's betrayal, the death of Tetazoo, after everything, she needed some normal, and rushing out to follow a lead in Vancouver was normal.

"Booked us tickets to Vancouver, you have a few minutes to pack your pjs." Gabriel said, leaning against the side of the lift, as he scanned the internet, checking the weather in Vancouver and the route with the least amount of traffic to stop off to their apartments and then to get to the airport.

"Not driving?" Riley asked, before biting back the rest of the question. This was a lead they didn't have to time to waste, let alone hours upon hours spent on the road, but part of her wished that they could spend the rest of the day in the car, exchanging quips as he blared his music that she used to detest, but was beginning to grow on her.

"It's a hell of a long way, and I ain't going to let you drive." Gabriel replied, even with her entire computerised background in his head courtesy of the chip, he could still never tell what she was thinking, and her expression never gave much away.

"I was the best in my class." Riley answered, giving him a small glare that was betrayed by the smile itching at the corner of her lips as they made their way to the car park, Riley keeping pace with Gabriel as he increased his pace, noticing someone out of the corner of his eye. Smiling back at Riley he opened his mouth to reply...

"I thought you were coming to see us before you left." Shenendoah said, cutting Gabriel off before he could even start. He was standing in front of Gabriel, who was towering over him, as he looked up at Gabriel with his best attempt at a stern expression, knowing full well that Gabriel had no intention to stop by and see them.

"I saw you yesterday." Gabriel answered. He had no desire to be tested, he didn't mind it truthfully, but he had a lead to follow and he didn't want to miss their flight, or be side tracked by the Cassidy's fussing. Thankfully they weren't still fretting over his almost dying last week, and it was back to their normal annoyance to do with the chip, making sure that it functions properly and isn't affecting him in ways it shouldn't.

"I haven't cleared you yet." Shenendoah replied, standing his ground as Riley resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the two of them, the expression growing on Gabriel's face made a smile twitch at the corner of her mouth, as she watched the two of them. It was her that had instigate this, she knew that, she wanted them to check his chip after what happened with the movie, but they had a lead, and she couldn't help feeling that his chip could wait.

"Cleared me?" Gabriel echoed, his eyes on Shenendoah. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Riley's smile light up her face, as she watched him, the scowl still lingering at the side of his mouth, covered by his indignation at the mere suggestion he needed the Cassidy's to clear him fit for duty.

"We just need to check..." Nelson started, taking a step towards Gabriel, as he pushed his glasses back against his face as he looked up at Gabriel, his eyes insistent, insisting that they needed to check him before he left.

"I'm fine, the chips fine." Gabriel cut him off, taking a step towards him, as Nelson stepped out of his way and Riley concealed a laugh as Nelson almost tripped over his own feet in doing so.

"It'll only take a few minutes." Shenendoah insisted, looking over at Riley, who continued smiling. They had a plane to catch, and despite almost dying last week, Gabriel was back to his old self, he didn't want to be checked on, especially since Shenendoah added about not clearing him yet, there was no way the Cassidy's were going to check his chip today.

"That's swell, but we have to go now." Gabriel answered, giving them a small smile before continuing out of the building, with Riley following beside him, the grin still on her face. "Shut up." Gabriel said, looking over at Riley who continued to smile as the two of them made their way to the car park.

**...**

Less than 20 minutes later Riley found herself outside the door to her apartment, she had listened to Gabriel more or less whining the entire way there, but she preferred it to him being stuck in his head as he usually was. She had instigated it after all, and she was more than happy to sit there and use her wit when necessary, and earn a few momentary scowls from Gabriel. They wouldn't be in Vancouver for long, if the lead was a dead end that was, but if it did amount to something, amount to a wild goose chase or actually finding the woman responsible. Or perhaps the organisation that backed her, if there was one, they could be there for a few days, She already had her gun, Chris had given her everything that he thought they would need, and had it delivered to them in the car park just before they left. Throwing her first aid kit into her duffle, quickly followed by her toothbrush and toothpaste, along with the rest of her toiletries and cosmetics, she turned to her cupboard.

Riley never hated packing, she hated waiting for others to pack and she hated the uncertainty she felt as she packed wondering what she would need and what she would ultimately end up packing that she wouldn't use or even need when she was wherever she was going. With a shake of her head, she spent the next two minutes folding and packing clothes, making sure she had enough weather dependent clothing that matched Gabriel's weather forecast, and after throwing two pairs of shoes in, Riley had her duffle bag over her shoulder and was heading towards her front door when it swung open in front of her.

"You ready yet?" Gabriel asked, leaning against the door as his sun glasses rested on the top of his head and he smirked over at Riley who resisted the urge to sigh.

"I've been waiting for you." Riley replied, smiling over at Gabriel as she walked past him, pulling the door shut behind her, and locking the door before following Gabriel down the staircase in silence. She knew he was checking the traffic, he could look for Arthur Douglas on the plane, right now they needed to make sure that they would catch that plane.

"I think this calls for your sort of driving." Gabriel said as Riley threw her duffle bag into the boot. A flash of silver flew through the air, and Riley's arm shot up to catch the keys Gabriel had thrown to her. Flashing him a smile and biting back a sarcastic comment, Riley pulled open the door and dropped down into the drivers seat. Gabriel had never let her drive his car. This was a first. Perhaps the first of many times she would drive his car. Or perhaps the first of many other firsts with Gabriel to come.

**...**

"So what do we now about him?" Riley asked, half way through their flight. She had spent the first half of their flight reading through the files that Gabriel had sent to her phone so that she could see even a fraction of what she could. So far, neither of them had found much that connected the victims, except for their bosses, which was connection enough. The thing their bosses all had in common was that they were powerful and wealthy, they had proper power or as Tate enjoyed, knowledge as power. Some of the kidnapped or possibly murdered drivers bosses had certain things in common, but nothing anywhere on the cyber grid that Gabriel could find could link them all together with each other.

"Arthur Douglas?" Gabriel asked a few moments later, after pulling out of his cyber render of the scene where Damion Shaw was last seen. He had got a few partials on cameras all over the world in the last few hours, that could possibly be him, but none were confirmed. He may not like what this woman was doing, but he couldn't help but admire her style, she was good. Riley nodded, her eyes still on her phone as she scanned the information again, looking for something that stuck out, that didn't make sense, a small inconsistency, or a common thread, something that Gabriel hadn't yet found. Anything would do, however small or big, but then again, she didn't really have to find one, Gabriel had found Arthur Douglas, he would hopefully answer some of their more pressing questions.

"He was only the body guard, well driver of Felicity Nolan for about five years, it is doubtful he was privy to as much private information as the others." Riley said, after waiting a few seconds for Gabriel to reply to her question, she could tell by the look on his face that he was riffling through files, using his chip. Part of her thought that there was a possibility that Arthur was let go because he didn't know enough, the others that were taken had been working for their bosses for a minimum of about 10 years across the board, except for him. It made sense that the one with the least time with their boss was the only one to escape, as far as they knew at least. But then again it could have everything to do with what he did know, not about Felicity Nolan, more to do with his training, his past, his experience.

"He's good, if any of them were going to escape it would be him." Gabriel replied, his eyes shut as he rested his head against the chair, his head tilted up to the air conditioning unit that sat above him. He didn't mind commercial flights, he actually liked them, the normality of them, although sitting beside Riley made him a little nervous, he could tell that she was constantly accessing, her body feigning relaxation when they both knew that in three seconds she could have her gun out and a body dropping to the ground in front of her. She was secret service, of course she was continually accessing, but it didn't help him too relax when he noticed her discreetly eyeing any and all potential threats. "He is former black ops." Gabriel added in a low voice, making sure that the person who was sitting in the seat behind him couldn't hear.

"It's hard to tell why he chose to work for Felicity Nolan, I mean..." Riley started, her eyes sweeping over his file again. Arthur Douglas was a good solider, he followed the rules, and as far as she could tell never did anything out of line, he retired when he turned 47 and only a few months later he started working with the Nolan Corporation.

"Slower pace, more money, dental, all the perks." Gabriel cut her off, a smile twitching at the corner of his lips for a second before he let it appear on his face momentarily. "The real question is, was he let go or did he escape?" Gabriel added, turning his face towards Riley as he opened his eyes and watched her, she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at a person sitting in a seat two rows ahead of them and three seats over. Without looking over at Gabriel, her thumbs quickly tapped onto her phone, and he knew that he was meant to look.

_I'm not sure... _She started typing.

**_But... _**Gabriel replied, appreciating the chip as he did so, smiling as the message popped up on Riley's phone. Only a few years ago he could barely text, not at a fast pace at least, and now he could instant message with his brain.

_The man sitting in the... _Riley started typing, her thumbs moving quickly across the screen as she tried to get her suspicions onto her phone for Gabriel to see, she wasn't sure. She knew he would know, it would take him seconds for him to find out, and she needed to be sure if she was going to pull her gun out on a plane.

**_Aisle seat, two rows forward?_** Gabriel interrupted. Riley smiled as the text popped up on her screen, she knew she hadn't been too discreet this time, but she didn't know that he could follow her eye line with such ease, well almost follow it.

_No aisle seat, five rows forward, I think he may be..._Riley started. She had seen all the files, she had scanned them quickly, looking at the photos, looking at everything, but she didn't have a chip in her head, she couldn't know for sure. Even though she wasn't certain, she felt almost certain, she felt it in her, the hunch that she usually had, and this time, she was only seconds away from pulling out her gun. She could see his reflection on the tray as one of the air hostesses had walked past him a two minutes ago and she couldn't quite work out why he looked so familiar.

**_Timothy Klein? _**Riley felt her hand stray to her gun as she read those two words, he wasn't just thinking it too, with the chip he would know for sure.

_Confirmation? _Riley typed, holding her breath as she glanced down at her phone. Checking beside her, she pulled her gun out and tucked into the back of her jeans as she slowly stood up, her eyes still on her screen, waiting for Gabriel's response. Glancing over at him, she knew that he was checking, double checking, triple checking. On a plane in mid-air they needed to be sure. They had to be sure.

**_Confirmation._**

**...**

Gabriel slid his gun into the back of his pants as he followed Riley, he knew it would better for her to go alone, far less suspicious, and she was insistent that he remained in his seat. But he didn't need to be cleared for duty, he didn't need to be protected, he needed to know as much as Riley did if the man sitting on the plane a few seats in front of him was a coincidence, or something else entirely.

Riley didn't feel nervous as she approached Timothy, she kept her pace normal as she walked past the rows of seats, out of the corner of her eye she saw a man smirk, and the woman beside him roll her eyes. She knew what it looked like, her walking towards the bathroom with Gabriel a step behind her, but she didn't care, it was better they thought that than they knew the truth.

Keeping her gun concealed, Riley stopped in front of the man's seat and leant down to talk to him when she noticed immediately that something was wrong. His eyes were open and unblinking, his head lolling back as he stared forward.

"Shit." Riley muttered, her fingers immediately going to the man's throat.

"What are you doing?" The man sitting beside him asked, staring up at Riley from his magazine, shouting as he wore a pair of headphones. He was looking up at her suspiciously as Riley felt for Timothy's pulse. She remained silent before she turned back to Gabriel who was standing behind and leant towards him.

"He's dead." Riley said in an undertone, her lips close to Gabriel's ear. She didn't want to cause a panic, if the man sitting beside him knew he was dead, he would no doubt start yelling, and then it would wash over the plane and that was the last thing they needed.

Turning back to Timothy her eyes scanned his body, before her eyes lingered on his fist, she could just make out a piece of paper scrunched in there. Feeling the man's eyes on her, the alive man who had no interest in his magazine anymore as she watched him, prying eyes scanning her face looking for a clue, not yet realising that the man sitting beside him, with his tray down, a faint ring of a glass on the tray in front of him, was dead. Poison, of course, Riley thought to herself as she focussed on pulling the piece of paper out of his hand.

_Tick-Tock. _

Was all the note said, it was written in black ink, the letters curved and sloped. Gabriel looked over Riley's shoulder, his eyes on the paper for a second before he was lost in his head. Knowing that there wasn't any evidence on Timothy's face, Riley lightly touched his eyelids with her fingers, shutting them. Beside Timothy, the man's body became rigid, he finally realised, had finally come to the conclusion that the man sitting beside him was dead.

Not needing a cyber-render, Gabriel scanned the plane, something that he never did, mainly because they were never on commercial flights, he would have thought of it, if he wasn't preoccupied with the case, he would have checked the plane. If he wasn't trying to find even a fragment of Damion Shaw to be seen, keeping an eye on Arthur Douglas, or scanning the sound recording that Damion Shaw had left behind for them or attempting to find a connection between these cases. A connection that enabled them to be one step forward instead of what he knew now, they were several steps behind her. She knew they were onto her so she had left them a little present, perhaps to warn them, distract them or slow them down.

Oh fuck, Gabriel thought to himself. Checking the footage, the plane, everything again, he fought to keep his expression neutral. He knew that Riley had her phone on, and he sent her a message before heading down towards the cockpit of the plane, while quickly pulling out his phone and calling Chris, Chris needed to know, and he needed to talk to him.

Her eyes on Timothy, Riley wondered where Gabriel was going to as she tried to keep a calm face for the man who was staring mortified at the dead body beside him. Pressing the call button above Timothy's seat, she kept eye contact with the man, before her phone went off, making a mental note to check it in a second, the man sat still, almost not knowing what to do, what to say, how to react.

"Hello how ca..."

"I need you to stay calm." Riley cut off the air hostess. The woman's eyes widened before her expression set and she nodded, Riley waited another second before the woman gave her a more definite nod. "This man is dead." Riley added, her voice low. Her low voice didn't help, there were a few pairs of eyes on her now, and even though the air hostess, Sarah as her badge read, took the news well, the noisy man sitting behind Timothy, who was listening intently, did not.

"Dead?" He echoed, his voice loud as he rose from his seat looking over his seat at Timothy and then at the man who was sitting frozen beside him, his magazine forgotten as it rested on his lap. Riley opened her mouth to reply when her phone went off again, she knew that Gabriel was out of view, and as her phone beeped again she ignored the stares been shot her way, followed by frightened voices questioning her, and pulled out her phone. She felt the wind knock out of her when she read the three messages Gabriel had sent.

**_Bomb._**

**_There is a bomb on the plane._**

**_Goddammit Riley?_**

**XX**

**AN: Sorry for such a huge delay, hopefully the chapter was worth the wait, don't worry the next chapter will follow shortly. Love to know what you think, so please leave me a review.**


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